Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Mae and I have been absolutely beside ourselves for the last week or so, discussing this Aaron drama, the dramatic breakup/breakdown of Sawyer and Kate, and these new folks. (That Daniel Faraday is a cutie, no?) Hopefully we'll post about "Eggtown" before the next episode airs, but I have a project due Thursday and I haven't even started it. Wow, so proud. The other night I procrastinated on a paper by making a magazine cut-out mini-collage with a picture of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, two post-its (one heart, one stop sign), and a Sharpie.

So anyway, we have a lot to say about "Eggtown." (Kate's a mom. Yeah, we want to talk about it.) But what's on my mind tonight is the following quote from Damon Lindelof:

"Season 4 is about who gets off the island and the fact that they need to get back. Season 5 is about why they need to get back, and season 6 is about what happens when they get back."

Damon seems to have given us a pretty dramatic spoiler, because if I'm reading this correctly, the Oceanic 6 are going to end up back on the island. While we acknowledge that we'll undoubtedly have more information by then, Mae and I are pretty sure this route is a big cop-out.

We don't want to see them go back to the island. (Jack and Kate in particular, but really, none of the 6. Now's a good time to say that we're spoiled on who the six are, but we won't spill without warning.) We're really enjoying the dichotomy this season has introduced: those for whom there's nothing to live for on the mainland, and those for whom there's nothing on the island. It's telling us a lot about their characters, and doesn't sending them back to the real world just to bring them back to Craphole Island just waste two seasons of my time and attention?

Plus, what's so bad about the real world? Seriously.

The whole thing, and obviously I am having trouble putting this into the perspective of this is two years away, maybe, is that it just seems a little sci-fi for me. Yes, I know, I'm watching Lost. There's a magic box. There's a smoke monster. There's la casa de Jacob. But SO FAR, it's been pretty grounded in some kind of reality. Yeah, the island is freaky, but I think I understand the DHARMA Initiative, the electromagnetic anomalies, and how the Others traveled back and forth from the island to America. I get it.

I'm having trouble with the time travel, folks. And I'm having serious trouble with this idea (which I guess has kind of been purported by Locke since season one, but really, who listens to Locke anyway?) that the island has some kind of magic draw. That the island brought the Oceanic 815ers crashing into the ocean in the first place. That Jack, Kate, and the rest of the Oceanic 6 really weren't supposed to leave and are forced to live miserable lives until they return. That Hurley's talk about "feeling it" wasn't just the musings of a troubled, deranged, chubby little guy.

It's just so science-fictiony. It's utterly unbelievably in the context not only of the rules of the world, but of the rules of the show thus far. It's going to take another totally game-changing experience to create a Lost universe where that mentality is acceptable for Jack Shephard to buy into.

Let's play with the idea.

I'd imagine it has to be all six of them. That's why Jack's jaunts to Sydney and back don't work. They have to be together. Do they take down another plane? Do they attempt to sail there? Does Ben just give 'em a ride?

For me to accept something like this, they're going to have to send Jack and Kate back together. Like, together together. Why? Because of this conversation I just had with Mae:

We will not accept a Sawyer/Kate reunion without an awkward introduction to, I don't know, let's call her Caroline Shephard, just for fun. Age five, very precious, green eyes and a nose for trouble. And Jack just smiles.

Even still, though, I don't like it. I don't want to see Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Desmond, Aaron, Michael, Walt, and whoever the last two Oceanic 6ers are end up on the island. The island sucks, guys. It sucks. It's hot and it rains all the time and what do you do when you wear your shoes out?

Over the summer, though, I had a moment of fanfictiony epiphany. At that point, we knew that Jack wanted to go back to the island and Kate pretty much didn't. What would it take to change Kate's mind? We still don't know the answer to that question, and it's nine months later. In fact, now that she's confined to California, we're pretty sure she has less incentive to return than we previously thought. Anyway, in my moment of fanfictiony epiphany, I scribbled this down:

I will go back there for you.

The post-it is still sitting here by my bed and I'm just thinking to myself how full-circle that would bring my favorite pair. It's Kate making the same promise Jack did in "The Man From Tallahassee," just in a totally different situation.

It's just fanfictiony epiphany, but I wanted to get it out there. Take it as you will. Discuss.

When it really comes down to it, Damon Lindelof could also be just plain screwing with us. I wouldn't put it past him. It's fun to talk about and get angry about, but this conversation can probably wait for another year and a half. Let's talk then.

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